


Pretty Damn Good

by reyescott



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, spoilers for High Noon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 11:39:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10555684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reyescott/pseuds/reyescott
Summary: An alternative telling of the High Noon mission on Kadara. Scott gets caught in the crossfire.





	

Reyes is good, but Sloane didn't claw her way to Kadara's throne room without skill.

Which is, Reyes will admit now, what he underestimated.

Scott meets Reyes' eyes in that cave, when Reyes reveals himself, when he hops from the ledge. When he figures out there's a sniper, and Reyes won't play fair. (Heleus deserves more than the hot-headed, power-hungry woman before him. Admirable, sure; but Reyes didn't come to Andromeda to be a dictator.)

Hurt, wounded--maybe a little pissed, but that look Scott gives him... Reyes swears, in that moment, he's never going to lie to Scott again. That look is enough to shatter a man's heart.

Thinks, 'Trust me,' and waits. Turns in circles with Sloane so he has his back to Scott, because if this is going to go south--if Ryder would turn on him, Reyes would rather not see it coming. Better to be stabbed in the back, he thinks.

Counts, waits for the sniper--

After that, everything blurs.

Which is how Reyes ends up with Scott lying on a bed in Lexi's medbay, Reyes sitting next to him. Leaning his elbows on his knees, counting his breaths to the beeping of Lexi's console.

Wishes, somehow, he would have left Scott out.

Or that Sloane would. She didn't even like him.

Liam's on Scott's other side, arms crossed over his chest, face tilted towards the ceiling. Not sleeping. Reyes keeps his glances Liam's way to a minimum; doesn't want to start anything with Scott's crew while Scott isn't there to calm things down.

"He'll be fine," Lexi says, in a soft voice. "He needs rest, but the hit wasn't that hard. SAM activated a biotic shield before impact."

Which is almost enough to calm him, but Lexi didn't carry Scott's limp body onto a shuttl. Didn't hear the waver in Liam's voice as he radioed back to Scott's ship. Didn't watch as Cora sat on her hands in the shuttle, forced her expression straight, and focused on anything else.

Now, though--Scott's patched up, resting. Vitals are good, no lasting damage. Reyes reaches out, finally, intertwines their fingers, and almost smiles. Scott's really a beautiful man; even more beautiful when he's not polished around the edges, when he lets his hair out of place and lets his guard down.

And... He smiles when Reyes kisses him, like he can't contain his happiness. Reyes has never, once, felt this way about a person. It's jarring; feels like a free-fall without a net, terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

And still, Reyes might lose him. Scott will survive; their relationship may perish.

"You really care about him, huh?"

Liam's voice shocks him. He looks up, sees he's moved to a position mirroring Reyes', but he keeps his hands to himself.

Reyes swallows. Thinks about the times Keema has teased him, has told him to shut up, because he's been chattering about Scott Ryder since the moment he met him.

"I do," Reyes says. Can't imagine not being honest, right now. Not when he's feeling this raw; not when he's torn between Scott and the people he's now supposed to serve.

"Funny way of showing it."

"Is it?" Reyes says. "I never wanted him dragged into this. Sloane's guilty of that."

"You don't think you had a little to do with this?"

"I didn't tell her to throw him, Liam. What is your point?"

"That the Pathfinder's already got a world of shit, and you're trying to drag him through more."

Ah. Right. "Of course you disapprove--"

"That's putting it fucking lightly--"

"--but nothing I have done was intended to harm him." Reyes meets his eyes. "Of course you have reason to doubt, but you and I have one identical goal, regardless how you see it."

Liam scowls. "Yeah? What's that?"

Reyes drops his gaze back to Scott, and says, "Keeping him safe."

It's not exactly a catch-all fix. Reyes is untrustworthy for many; a smuggler, a man that willingly left the Nexus hoping for better shores, or any shores, as the case may be. Liam settles next to 'by the book' far better than Reyes ever has or ever will. Still, same goal, different means; a home for humanity in a new galaxy.

Much like the dilemma they're in now. Disagreements on how to keep their Pathfinder, well. Pathfinding.

The console nearby beeps, and Scott moans. Liam jumps to his feet, fumbling for his omni-tool. "Lexi? He's waking up!"

Reyes holds back, keeps his distance while Lexi comes back, goes through the motions, while Liam stands there, arms crossed, like he's waiting for Reyes to strike. He can wait. Scott's fine; everything can wait.

Reyes is far from patient, but he can be, for this.

"Lexi," Scott finally says, "I'm fine. Honestly. Can you stop hovering, please?"

"I don't want to miss--"

"I have SAM. Promise I'll let him call you if either of us notice anything weird."

Lexi makes a noise in the back of her throat. "No dawdling if you do, Ryder. You keep yourself in that bed." She looks between Reyes and Liam. "Twenty minutes."

"Lexi--"

"Twenty!" she turns on her heel and walks from the room. Reyes watches Scott watch her leave. A tiredness to his shoulders, but no worse for wear. He relaxes, again.

He's awfully guilty for a man who, really, isn't at fault.

Or maybe he is, and he's just denying it.

"We're lucky to have her," Scott murmurs.

"Damn right we are. She was waiting in engineering when we made it back to the Tempest. Had you halfway back to normal by the time you made it to medbay."

Scott turns to Liam, rubbing the back of his head, where he'd hit rock, when Sloane threw him across the room. "Yeah, someone wanna fill me in on what happened?"

Liam's expression goes dark. "Vidal happened," he says, and gestures his way.

With a sigh, Scott says, "That's not fair."

"Isn't it? He could've told you his plan, you could have stayed away."

"Liam," Scott tries.

"I get it," Liam says, his voice softening. "You like him. But if he's going to be putting you in danger, it's best for everyone--"

"Liam." His tone is harsh, now--Liam's spine even straightens in response. It's impressive, that Scott can sound so... commanding. "Your concern is noted. I'll take that into consideration. Can you please give us a few minutes?"

For a moment, Liam stands there, like he can't quite decide if he wants to disobey or not. No way in hell he's pleased having to leave Scott, but even Reyes wouldn't fight the expression on Scott's face.

"Of course." He reaches up, scratching the side of his face, and says, "Call me if he tries anything."

"Speed-dial one," Scott says, with a grin, now.

Liam gives Reyes one last look, and he's gone. Reyes twists his hands together, nervous, as he steps forward. "Glad to see you okay," he says, first. "I wasn't sure whether Sloane had enough power to throw you so hard, but..." He grimaces. "Lexi tells me SAM threw up a barrier. I didn't know you were biotic."

"I'm not. SAM has... combat profiles, kind of makes me one, if I want. SAM's good on his feet. Or, well. Maybe not feet."

"I'm sorry," Reyes says, before he can stop it. His collapse into the chair is more than a little dramatic, and he reaches out for Scott before he pulls back away. "I didn't mean for harm to come to you."

A moment, and Scott takes a deep breath. watches Reyes' hands shake in his lap - he's going to ask me to leave - and he says, "I know, Reyes."

"If I had any inclination--"

"Reyes. I'm fine."

So Reyes takes a deep breath, exhales, and meets Scott's eyes. He looks hurt again. The relief Reyes feels that he's fine can't quite manifest as a smile on his face.

Scott looks down at his hands. He looks so much smaller, sitting on his bed, shoulders hunched. He's huge in his armor, no-nonsense, intense, strong. Easy to forget he's human.

Here, he's nothing but. Stripped from injury, armor, and purpose, Scott Ryder looks like an ordinary man.

Reyes feels his heart thump heavy in his chest, nervous and awed and a thousand things he can't remember feeling until right now. Like the ground's given way beneath him, and whether he falls into the void hinges on Scott's next sentence.

"Why didn't you trust me?" His voice is quiet, not broken but guarded, and down Reyes goes. "Reyes, I thought--we have something, right? I'm not just imagining this."

"No, of course not. Pathfinder, I--Scott, I wasn't sure how you might react. It seemed like, if you didn't know, you would be less likely to fall to harm." If he didn't know, maybe their chemistry wouldn't fade. He could keep Scott and his secrets. He should have known better.

Scott raises an eyebrow. "So, what? Sloane was an unknown?"

"Sloane trusting you was an unknown."

"She didn't trust me. She thought I betrayed her. Why else would she throw me against a rock?" Scott sighs, pressing his palms against his eyes. "I don't care about Sloane. I just... if we have something, I don't want this to be some fling, Reyes. I'm not that guy. And--if you're going to hide things from me, things I should know, then we should stop this right now."

He should; Scott would be better off without getting involved in the politics of Kadara, after all. He has more than enough responsibility to keep him busy. Reyes distracts him, does he not?

In what universe are they good for each other?

But Reyes has never been good at being selfless, and the way Scott makes him feel is too much to ignore.

"No," Reyes says. "It won't happen again. Any information I have is your information, Scott."

Scott heaves a sigh, then, rolls his shoulders. "Good. Glad we got that settled."

"I'm sorry," Reyes says again.

"You gonna keep apologizing, or you gonna come over here and kiss me?"

"You don't think Liam will come back to beat me up?"

Scott smiles, and Reyes' stomach does flips. "I'll protect you.

When Lexi comes back, Scott's asleep on Reyes' shoulder. She glares, tapping on her omni-tool and chastises him soundlessly, but her desire to see Scott rest overcomes her desire to chew him out. "When he wakes," she says, "you and I will have words."

Even still, Reyes thinks, pretty damn good outcome. He'll listen to anyone on Scott's crew ream him a new one if it means Scott's watching, amused. They fight because they care about Scott, and for all their differences, Reyes definitely shares that.

**Author's Note:**

> is sloane kelly a biotic?? she is now I guess
> 
> come find me on tumblr @reyescott


End file.
